William James Moore - Cargo Master and Pioneer

Grave of William James Moore
and Rebecca Nicholson,
Economy Cemetery

Relationship to me:
William James Moore & Rebecca Nicholson (5th great grandparents)
   Margaret Moore & James Charles Campbell
      John Scott Campbell & Janet Chisholm
         John William Campbell & Sarah Simmonds
            Flora Ann Campbell & John  Gamble
               Julia West Gamble & John  Bragg
                  Russell Bragg & Dorothy Harrigan
                     Me

William James Moore was born in 1741, near Coleraine, Northern Ireland.  We have no information on his parents, but do know of a brother, George, who was born in 1747 and accompanied William to North America in about 1761.

Coleraine is a picturesque town about 55 miles northwest of Belfast, Northern Ireland. and 30 miles east of Derry.  In the days of St. Patrick, the town was named after the luxurious ferns that grew along the banks of the River Bann.  In the mid 1700s the area became home to many of the Scots who settled there and it is likely William's family were among this group of 250,000 Presbyterian Ulster Scots.

In the late 1760s, he was said to make his living as a cargo master on ships that delivered flax seed to Philidelphia.  On one such trip he was was aboard the vessel, Eleanor and was shipwrecked near Sable Island. Fortunately he and other survivors were picked up by a passing ship and delivered back to Halifax.

The story goes that he asked a fellow seaman, Thomas Durning, where he might find a good Irish family to stay with.  Thomas sent him to the home of his girlfriend, Rebecca Nicholson, in Portaupique where it is said that he "stole the girl and married her in 1772".  Rebecca's parents, William Nicholson and Lady Janet Smith had eloped from Ireland themselves in 1749.  We don't know if Lady Janet was a member of the aristocracy or if her given name was "Lady", but it's fun to speculate!

It is interesting to note that William and Rebecca's son George, married Elizabeth Durning, daughter of jilted suiter, Thomas Durning.  Thomas married Sarah Jane Cook who is also related to us - but that's another story.

Thomas Headland near
Economy, Nova Scotia

William and Rebecca eventually settled on a farm in nearby Economy.  William maintained ties to the sea by keeping interests in several ships that plied their trade up and down the Bay of Fundy.  The couple raised 9 children.  Their youngest son, another William, died as a small child and was the first person buried on the land which would become the Economy Cemetery -  land that William Senior had donated to the town.

William James Moore died on the 14th of June, 1820 in Economy and Rebecca in 1829.  Both are buried with their little son at the Economy Cemetery.

I often wonder what the early settlers must have thought of their new homes.  Many came from tiny tennant farms in Ireland to receive grants of 500 or more acres and for many of them, supplies and provisions to take them through their first year.  Although the work must have been hard and the trials, many - they must have had such hope for the future.